Alberta’s unemployment rate could increase in the first half of 2016 to between 7.5 and 8.0 per cent, economist Todd Hirsch said Friday as Statistics Canada released new labour force statistics for the year just ended.

The provincial unemployment rate climbed from 4.7 per cent to 7.0 per cent during 2015 as the province, troubled by slumping oil prices that have led to thousands of layoffs, closed the year within spitting distance of the 7.1-per-cent national average. The last time Alberta’s unemployment rate was higher than 7.0 per cent was in April 2010, Statistics Canada said.

The dismal jobs numbers prompted calls from the Wildrose Opposition and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business for an emergency debate in the legislature on the state of Alberta’s economy.

MLAs should be brought back to develop “practical solutions on how to stem the tide of job losses and to rebuild our economy,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “Where employees are out of work for months and months and can’t find jobs, that’s not the Alberta way.”

Deron Bilous, Alberta’s economic development minister, said the government is dealing with the drop in global oil prices by investing in infrastructure and providing access to capital and supports for employers who create jobs.

“The deep cuts proposed by the opposition would put more people out of work and inflict serious damage to the front line services Alberta families rely on,” Bilous said in a written statement.

In 2015, the Alberta government received 116 group-termination notices from employers planning to lay off 50 or more workers at a single location. A total of 17,579 employees were affected, and about 78 per cent of them were from the oil and gas sector or related businesses, said Shirley Lin, a spokeswoman for the Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour ministry.

Hirsch, chief economist at ATB Financial, said the main reason he doesn’t foresee Alberta unemployment exceeding 8.0 per cent is that job seekers will start leaving the province, mostly for British Columbia, which saw the fastest employment growth in Canada during 2015.

“We don’t like to see our friends and neighbours and families leave, so there is a cost to it for communities,” Hirsch said. “But the fact that we do live in a country with good labour mobility actually helps stabilize labour markets.”

He said he expects the job market will improve in the second half of the year if oil prices stabilize.

Edmonton finished 2015 with unemployment at 6.2 per cent, compared to 7.0 per cent in Calgary.

The Edmonton region gained 1,700 new jobs in December. Solid gains in full-time employment offset a modest reduction in part-time jobs, said John Rose, chief economist with the City of Edmonton.

Continuing growth in the region’s working-age population, which increased 2.3 per cent between December 2014 and December 2015, “highlights Edmonton’s relatively good job prospects compared to the rest of Alberta and Canada,” Rose said in a news release.

Overall, Alberta lost 3,900 jobs during December — the third consecutive month of losses. Hirsch said he had expected losses in the range of 5,000 to 15,000 jobs.

Nearly 52,000 people in the Edmonton census metropolitan area and 60,000 in the Calgary census metropolitan area were looking for work in December.

Total Alberta employment for the year was down by 0.6 per cent, Hirsch noted in his newsletter, The Owl. A 2.3-per-cent decline in the number of full-time jobs was only partially offset by a 7.8-per-cent increase in part-time employment.

Alberta’s resource sector lost nearly 21,000 positions in 2015. Manufacturing jobs were down 5.3 per cent and construction employment fell 2.7 per cent. The accommodation and food services sector lost 11,500 jobs in December alone.

But the province also saw December job gains in the services-producing sector; professional, scientific and technical services; educational services; health care and social assistance; and information, culture and recreation.

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